Chaos Destiny
Sacrifice for peace or live a life in chaos
Mussie Haile
Copyright © Mussie Haile 2021
1.Edition, digital edition published 2021
Self-published through -
Print on demand: Ingramspark, Amazon
Mussie Haile, Ohmstr. 52, 60486 Frankfurt am Main
ISBN Paperback 978-3-949553-00-4
ISBN Hardcover 978-3-949553-01-1
ISBN e-Book978-3-949553-02-8
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the German National Library. Details are available online under http://dnb.d-nb.de.
Mussie Haile asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
Map by Rob Donovan
Cover by Pantelis Politakos
Interior Book Design by Ksenia Siziakova, Kevin Peake
Editing John Gund, Ian O Reilly
This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to people or institutions, whether living, deceased or otherwise still shambling is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems (except for the us of brief quotations in a book review), if you would like permission to use material from the book please contact [email protected].
Imagination
It makes all the difference in a human life. It decides whether you are going to fulfill your dreams or just sit on the sidelines and wait for something to happen. If you cannot imagine what you want, you cannot create.
Imagination is the most powerful tool that humans have. And yet, despite it is also the most natural of our gifts, we deny it as unimportant, lose it on the way to adulthood, or do not take it seriously at all. We always start with imagination. Then we create.
PREQUEL TOAS
In the beginning, there was harmony
In the beginning, in the realm of nothing, there was only vibration. For a million infinities the universe vibrated. Each particle for himself, in harmony with all others. Until one day, one particle missed for a millisecond the beat of the vibration. Everything changed. This one particle vibrated higher to catch up and to be in harmony again. And this unbalanced moment led to many unbalanced particles that all wanted to become back in sync again. And chaos began.
Particles became bursting stars, one after another, in the pursuit to vibrate higher and higher. And still, to this day, they are only seeking balance and harmony. One of these particles, which became a star, is the Land of Toas today. The first particle that missed the beat of the vibration and brought chaos to all others. That’s why, the elderly says, the world is in balance today. Toas needed to vibrate so much more and higher than all other particles, that it found its rhythm, making Toas a place of gods, magic, and many races living together. So much beauty came out of his misery, that this little particle also learned that chaos does not always do bad. Chaos is not always the end but maybe the beginning.
So, it created a test, a possibility that if the inhabitants of Toas are not careful, everything will fall into chaos, so the legend says. Therefore, every 100 years a child is born with the mark of chaos, a child-like the particles, a child of Balance and Chaos. Through their sacrifice, harmony will be restored. If not, chaos is on the way, and maybe with that, a new beginning.
CHAPTER ONE
The Forest Clearing
Sacrifice for peace or live a life in chaos? Eldana was for a second, lost in her thoughts and struggled. Would you sacrifice yourself for the peace of the world? If you had no gain in it. That was the question after all, they expected her to answer with yes. It was not the time to think about this. She focused back on the threat in front of her.
There were seven of them in a semicircle. Nobody moved. Swords drawn; faces grim. It seemed as if the world stood still for a breath. It was a cold, misty night. The fog surrounding them brought a chilling aura. The forest clearing seemed surreal; even animals seemed to be deliberately keeping quiet. Not a single bird was heard. The seven figures stood there as if in rigor mortis. The only indication they were alive was their breath, hot with anger.
They held their swords upside down, a display of strength and determination in Toas. They needed to show strength. Nobody stood above the law. The gods of Toas had set the rules. And those who broke the rules would be punished.
The seven figures were clad in robes – not ordinary robes – each mantle was decorated with a different pattern. Each pattern was a sign of the elements of this world.
Their gazes were drawn to their target at the center of the forest clearing. There she stood, facing the seven warriors. Her life was about to change forever. Eldana’s brown hair shone. She had a sword in her hand, long and lethal, with the sign of the King of Toas inscribed on its hilt. She was wearing similar clothes, decorated like the robes of the seven warriors. On hers, only the symbol of light was present. Her taut body was that of a fighter. Her mind was sharp and focused on every move around her. She was ready to fight against all seven. She was a princess and a goddess, a servant of the crescent moon, a traitor; doomed to die. Around her stood her teachers, ready to punish her for treason.
The forest clearing shimmered with a lustrous beauty and wonder. It felt odd to make such a beautiful place a battleground.
But the place was not always beautiful. Once, the clearing had been a battlefield, one where thousands had seen their last light, when all creatures fought about the reign on Toas.
Elsewhere, near the clearing and deep in the forest stood two creatures. They blended entirely with the forest around them, unnoticed, thanks to the potent protection spell.
The first; a woman armed with a bow. The first arrow was notched, aimed at the closest enemy of Eldana. This archer was a magician. Siem, from the house of the Middle Kingdom. She belonged to Kajewll,
